When Josie Comes Home
by x Pippin x
Summary: She had always been the light in the dark, the town trademark little girl, the perfect angel. But when disaster strikes that not even Josie can comprehend, and all hope leaves, she is torn: Fight and die, or live in regret? [LegolasOC]
1. Prologue

The words hung in the air.

Slowly, my throat closed, bit by bit. The cool wind blowing my hair wasn't important to me. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I knew it had to happen – but it didn't mean it was going to be any easier.

"_I must go and fight for middle earth."_

Trying to find the courage to touch him, to tell him how I felt, I groped for words. How was I supposed to respond to that? I stood, crossing the short distance between his back and myself. Slowly, I reached out a pale hand and laid it gently on the back of his arm.

I could feel him tense; feel his anger, his nervousness, his pain. I rubbed his arm, trying to find the strength to reply.

"I trust you know the consequences," I spoke softly. Other races walked by, but did not look strangely at us, the quietly weeping girl and hard-edged man. Instead, they glanced only with a moment's pity, stereotyped sympathy. It was a customary look in these troubled times.

"Do you think me a fool?" He responded quietly, tensing even more; if that was possible, "I know that lies ahead. It is no mystery. I either fight and perhaps die, but die for a good cause. On the other hand, I could stay in a town likely to get ambushed and regret not fighting for the cause at hand."

His words made me implode. At once, the anger in me was stirred and even there was nothing to see my reflection in, I could tell my eyes were flashing.

"Legolas," I spoke quietly but quickly, "You know as well as I do that we always have a choice. You should make the right one. Do you think yourself a loner? Do you not think the people of my town would miss you?"

He whipped around, and I let my arms cross over each other in a sort of protective self-hug.

"Do you not think," I asked, my voice dangerously low, tears practically choking me like a noose, "that _I_ would miss you?"

I did not want to see the reaction, fearing it spiteful. Instead, I turned on my heel and took off running into the woods. Dangerous it was to do such a thing, but at the time, getting away from the man, or rather elf, that had caused me so much pain was first priority.

I could not tell you how long I stayed in the woods, high up in my favorite tree, the one from which a birds eye view was common. Legolas Greenleaf. Elf. Archer extraordinaire. And the one I could never have.

"Tell me," I whispered, letting my head fall back towards the sky in defeat, opening my eyes up wide so I could watch the blue canvas turn to gray, "why do I always stray from where my heart should belong?" The tree bark felt smooth against my small hands, and as the rain started to drop to earth, I slowly climbed down.

My heart felt as heavy as an angel's sigh, my mind clouded over. _There will be others_, I told myself, _you know that._ But that did not mean I would accept it. In this rotten village, every boy was just like the previous: Charming in a bratty sort of way, waiting to backstab you, childishness leaking from every pore. How could I ever love one such as that?

Reaching the ground, I rested for a moment against the tree as my head swam. Nearly everything made me dizzy, a fact that I greatly disliked. Catching my balance, I lifted up the edges of my peasant clothes so they would not get damp, and hurried along towards home.

In the back of my mind, I wondered where Legolas had wandered off. Scratch that, Legolas never wandered. He always seemed to have a purpose, never just doing things at random, not at all like me. And that was one of the many things I admired about him. Well, there were more than just many things I admired about him. There was a million. Past that, even.

I reached the hut that served as a home for my family and I. We were a small, quiet kin, although one of my brothers was always doing something strange and riot inducing. My mother turned over restlessly in her sleep. She was old now, but still as beautiful as ever. Her long, white hair fell in sheets across her back, and her mouth was always rounded in a natural, humbled smile. Except for when she had her nightmares, which were getting more and more frequent as the months passed.

Leaning down, she shuddered as a wave of unknown fear passed over her face. Smoothing her blanket, I lay down beside her. For hours, or so it seemed, I laid there in agony, trying to forget how my heart ached. Finally, I fell into a restless slumber.

Author's Note: So this is one of my first fics. It's LotR, obviously, and Legolas/OC. It's boring, I know, but it was spice up later.


	2. When Josie Comes Home

Le gasp! You, my dear reader, were brave enough to travel on to the next chapter! My thanks and bravo to you. Hopefully in this chapter it'll spice up a bit. If any of my mentionings are incorrect (ex. Town names, etc.) Then please inform me and the correct changes shall be applied. Oh, and nothing belongs to me except for Josie and her family. Lord of the Rings belongs to JRR Tolkien. I'm just a rabid fangirl. Oh, and the song in this chapter belongs to Steely Dan.

When Josie comes home:  
So good.  
She's the pride of the neighborhood.  
She's the raw flame,  
the live wire,  
She prays like a Roman,  
with her eyes on fire,

Uh huh! 

When I opened my eyes, I questioned my actions, for it was so dark that it hardly seemed that I had opened my eyes at all. Blinking rapidly, I sat up, listening to the calm breathing of my family. It seemed that, in my absence of being awake, they had returned, and were now sleeping fitfully on the ground. I glanced around, our few possessions scattered in a mishap around the small hut. Taking care not to wake anyone up, I retrieved the rest of my body from the floor and stood, tiptoeing quietly to the door, which I edged open. Bit by bit, I slipped out of the door, into the cool air.

The sky was a dark blue, almost black, like the pigment of a bruise flowering. I breathed in the air, rich with the familiarity of this town I called home, and rested against a fence a few feet away, shivering as the wind fluttered. I felt as if I had forgotten something important. But what…? I shook my head, letting sleep rid itself from every pore and my heart stopped as it remembered: Legolas.

Interesting, really, how the human mind worked. Memories were a way of telling time, a visual storybook inside your mind. Unlike most things, you did not have to learn it; it was built in and at times, could be a blessing or a nightmare. If you really wanted to, you could recall almost anything. But then again, if you suppressed it enough, things could also be forgotten just as easily as remembered. But for me, it never seemed to work that way.

I couldn't suppress my feelings; I had always worn my emotions on my sleeve. It was, in a sense, a curse. If I did not watch myself, I could spill my past to a stranger within a quarter of an hour of meeting them. How then could I keep myself safe in these times? Was I weak? Sighing, I watched the first signs of the sun glow across the horizon. I had once been rather carefree, before all this war was about. I partook my fair share in jokes without much particular thought.

At the end of everything, there is always something to be learned. At every remark, there is a truth buried deeper to those who seek it. Life is lived on labels and categories, merely to convenience every individual.

I was content. Although I meant nothing to society; I was nothing like any of my friends who had talents… I was fine just being who I was. I could not sing beautifully, nor dance gracefully, I could barely lift a sword, but I was alive, and that was enough. But now I was a young woman, keen with interest of the world. I was expected to wed soon. But Legolas… well, I had never experienced "love" before him. Was it even love?

That's the reason why I hid it for as long as I could – I did not know if I was just being silly. My feelings tend to hinder me more than the practical decisions I probably should be making.

Believe it or not, everyone has something that they hide. Believe it or not, everyone keeps most things inside. Believe it or not everyone believes in something above.  
Believe it or not everyone needs to feel loved. In these dark times, who could be trusted?

I've seen it a lot; every time the world turns upside down. Most of us feel like we're losing ground… Believe it or not everyone hates admitting fear. Believe it or not, most of us want to know why we're here.

Without Legolas, who was I?

The sun had risen, and I had left to go fulfill the chores of that day: Feed the horses, help my mother, and then keep my brothers out of trouble, or worse, _harm_, until father came back from doing whatever he was doing. He never told us, and my instincts told me a while back to just not ask. Seemed it was better that way, I suppose.

Sighing, my thoughts turned to Legolas. Where was he? What was he doing? Was he thinking about me? I stroked the main of one of our few horses, Sunglow. I had named her when I was little, when fairy tales still existed. One of my favorites had been the story of Sunglow and Wing.

They had fallen in love, but were taken from each other. Despite their attempts to reunite, it was years before they saw each other again.

How familiar did that sound? I rolled my eyes and walked down the road towards the center of the village. My chores were done; it had been years since I had felt the need to ask if I could leave. Acknowledging a few others, I searched for Legolas.

_No,_ my mind seemed to say, _don't look for him. Don't weaken yourself for somebody you barely know._

"Shut up," I mumbled to myself, receiving a look of indignation from one of girls near me. Ah, great, now I looked like a lunatic. This week just kept getting better and better.

And of course, now that I was sufficiently insane and off guard, there he was. He was, as always, decked out in his traditional elf clothes, his arrows and bow shining beautifully in the midday glow of the sun. There were other elves, as well as a dwarf and a man. The trio had trooped into town earlier that week, and more elves had shown up just a while ago. Most people bowed briefly, as was customary at the time, but my eyes were too busy fixing themselves on Legolas. If he noticed me, he did not acknowledge it. My heart sank even further than it had already been doing, shrinking into the pit of my stomach.

Legolas was on a brown steed with the dwarf riding behind him, while the man was on a black one. The elves were on horses of their own of various colors, a rainbow of flesh and fur and, most importantly of all, _life. _

Without a word, the man edged his horse into a gallop, and Legolas followed suite, giving me a glance as he passed. The most acknowledgement he had given me all day, my heart jumped. The elves followed.

No fancy speech was needed without looking like a fool. Everyone knew they were off to try and gain back the land that had once been middle earth.

Watching Legolas fade into the distance, I ran back home. I was going to loose everything. Grabbing a saddle and a horse, I began to ready myself.

There was no fortune here for a girl of an adventurous mind.

With that, I rode off.

AN: Hope you all liked it! I'm not sure where some of the things in this chapter sprang up from, but that's my mind for you. R&R!


End file.
